After 41 games, the halfway point of the 2009-10 season, the Lakers led the league with a 32-9 mark (now 35-11) thanks in part to a heavy home schedule and despite various injuries including 17 missed games from All-Star Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant’s different ailments.

Instead of going through a game-by-game or player-by-player summary (the Lakers measure success in April, May and June, not November and December) – we enlisted assistant coach Jim Cleamons last week in Toronto to see how the coaching staff hoped to grow the squad from the first half to the second.

Among the topics we covered:

1) The difference of playing with and without Gasol
2) The bench rotation, specifically the emergence of Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown
3) Ron Artest’s integration with the team
4) The significance of earning home court advantage, and difference between competing in November and March
5) Playing with a target on their back
6) The impact of Kobe Bryant playing through pain